Sheriff: Child Found Dead in 1987 Died During Dog Attack

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Nicholas Benjamin Loris, 6

Sheriff: Child Found Dead in 1987 Died During Dog Attack

Nicholas Benjamin Loris, 6

FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — A mother who was the only suspect in her 6-year-old son’s death from nearly 25 years ago has been cleared, as Forsyth County deputies say he was strangled during a dog attack.

The body of Nicholas Benjamin Loris was found on Feb. 21, 1987 by a neighbor in a wooded ravine outside a home on Friendship-Ledford Road, located about 150 yards away from the boy’s Davidson County home near the Forsyth County line.

The Medical Examiner originally ruled his death as a homicide by strangulation, but the case went cold over the years. Evidence from the scene was reviewed again by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in 2003 and 2004 — but still — no new leads were found.

“This was not a witnessed case. No one saw this occur,” Forsyth County Sheriff Bill Schatzman said.

After years of reviewing evidence and interviewing the same people several times, Betsy Watkins, the boy’s mother, was the only person ever identified as a suspect in her son’s death.

“They assumed because it was strangulation it must have been done by another individual,” David Freedman, Watkins’ attorney said.

Watkins was in the middle of a divorce and custody battle when Loris was killed. Her other son, Alex Loris, who was 8-years-old at the time, moved to live with his father after his brother’s death and hasn’t spoken to her since, Freedman said.